Due to the increasing problem of water contamination from coliform bacteria, and the like, the harvesting of marketable shellfish has become very selective, more time consuming and more expensive. It has been found that shellfish, harvested from contaminated waters and transported to and placed in uncontaminated waters for at least fifteen days, will purge themselves of contaminants and become marketable. This has greatly increased the sources and availability of marketable shellfish.
It is a requirement in the State of Virginia that commercial fishermen harvesting in known contaminated waters must do so in the presence of, and under the supervision of Virginia Resources Commission inspectors. These inspectors place a seal on the truck or other conveying vehicle at the point of harvesting to insure that none of the contaminated products reach the market place. This sealed vehicle is then taken to a known uncontaminated body of water where, again under the supervision of an inspector, the seal may be broken and the contaminated shellfish loaded onto a boat and dispersed in the uncontaminated body of water.
The area where the contaminated shellfish are dispersed or planted is then marked by the inspector and the fisherman by suitable stakes and/or identification buoys. After a period of at least fifteen days this area is then raked or dredged to retrieve the now marketable shellfish that meet the requirements of the Virginia State Health Department. Due to normal loss in the sand or mud, cracking of shells during handling and natural marine predators, the yield of the second harvest seldom exceeds eighty percent of the first harvest.